Información integrada, verificación externa y otros condicionantes

Abstract

In this work we consider whether the publication of integrated Information is related to its external verification, with the verifying company, the scope of the verification, the quotation of the company, its sector, or its country of origin. Therefore, we have analyzed a sample comprised of all the large companies from Spain, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, and Germany which, during 2016, published non-financial reports pursuant to the CRI standards. We made a first descriptive analysis with contingency tables and chi-squared; then, we used a regression model. The results include that the integrated report is not a very common practice, unlike the use of cri or external verification; external verification is mostly made by the Big Four for specific sections, and although the proposed model is statistically significant, non-financial information is only conditioned in the case of Spain as the country of origin. The study made is valuable due to the great importance of business non-financial information for all their stakeholders, especially the processors, verifiers, and regulators regarding both the national and international initiatives on the subject.